Bit of this and that
I know I haven’t done any blogging for a while, though quite a bit has happened in the past couple of months, nothing extra-ordinary, but it had taken my appetite off blogging, also this cold weather just makes me feel so miserable.
As you may recall before Christmas October actually] I lost my little special friend Tango, Christmas came and we had a bit of a shock with a family member, which among other things lost me a fair sum of money.
Then at the end of January I lost my brother, next I had to have an operation to have a bit of sun damaged skin removed from my head, as they can be cancerous, that was pretty painful and thankfully they’re sure it’s all gone, here is a photo of me after the op
it looks like I’ve been shot, doesn’t it. It’s taking some time to heal. About four days after the op I had to travel up to Edinburgh for my brother’s funeral, My head was quite swollen and throbbed continually. It took two attempts to take out the stitches. Just a timely warning folks, If you are fair skinned with blue or grey eyes, in fact Celtic colouring, be very careful about being in the sun. I don’t sunbathe but it was enough to give me these basal cell carcinomas, It was the size of a pimple, but wept ever so slightly, a tiny secretion the size of a pinhead, but it was enough for my doc to send me to have it cut out.
Anyhow got over that lot and the other night we had a power cut for almost a whole day, no heat or light on one of the coldest days of the year. A couple of weeks ago some low life went int the back of my car and cracked the bumper quite badly, he/she never left their details.
Next thing, my boiler has decided to give up the ghost. that was yesterday. Oh well maybe things will improve like the weather, which was almost springlike to-day.
Keep well and see you soon
Good Luck Mr Gorsky
> ON JULY 20, 1969, AS COMMANDER OF THE APOLLO 11 LUNAR MODULE, NEIL
> ARMSTRONG WAS THE FIRST PERSON TO SET FOOT ON THE MOON.
> HIS FIRST WORDS AFTER STEPPING ON THE MOON, “THAT’S ONE SMALL STEP FOR
> MAN, ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND,” WERE TELEVISED TO EARTH AND HEARD BY
> MILLIONS.*
>
> BUT JUST BEFORE HE RE-ENTERED THE LANDER, HE MADE THE ENIGMATIC REMARK
>
>
> “GOOD LUCK, MR. GORSKY.”
> MANY PEOPLE AT NASA THOUGHT IT WAS A CASUAL REMARK CONCERNING SOME
> RIVAL
> SOVIET COSMONAUT. HOWEVER, UPON CHECKING, THERE WAS NO GORSKY IN
> EITHER THE RUSSIAN OR AMERICAN SPACE PROGRAMS .
>
> OVER THE YEARS, MANY PEOPLE QUESTIONED ARMSTRONG AS TO WHAT THE -
> ‘GOOD LUCK, MR. GORSKY’ STATEMENT MEANT, BUT ARMSTRONG ALWAYS JUST
> SMILED.
> ON JULY 5, 1995, IN TAMPA BAY , FLORIDA , WHILE ANSWERING QUESTIONS
> FOLLOWING
> A SPEECH, A REPORTER BROUGHT UP THE 26-YEAR-OLD QUESTION ABOUT MR
> GORSKY TO
> ARMSTRONG.
>
> THIS TIME HE FINALLY RESPONDED BECAUSE MR. GORSKY HAD DIED, SO NEIL
> ARMSTRONG FELT HE COULD NOW ANSWER THE QUESTION.
> HERE IS THE ANSWER TO “WHO WAS MR GORSKY”:
>
>
> IN 1938, WHEN HE WAS A KID IN A SMALL MID-WESTERN TOWN , HE WAS PLAYING
> BASEBALL WITH A FRIEND IN THE BACKYARD.. HIS FRIEND HIT THE BALL, WHICH
> LANDED IN HIS NEIGHBOUR’S YARD BY THEIR BEDROOM WINDOW.
>
> HIS NEIGHBOURS WERE MR. AND MRS. GORSKY. AS HE LEANED DOWN TO PICK UP
> THE
> BALL, YOUNG ARMSTRONG HEARD MRS. GORSKY SHOUTING AT MR. GORSKY,
>
> “SEX! YOU WANT SEX?! YOU’LL GET SEX WHEN THE KID NEXT DOOR WALKS ON
> THE MOON!”
>
>
> It broke the place up.
>
> NEIL ARMSTRONG’S FAMILY CONFIRMED THIS IS A TRUE STORY. Do pass it on,
> it’s too choice not to be shared
All in a day’s work…and the rest
Actually in all it was more than one day, but an accumulation of hours. I was trying to renew my car insurance., What a palaver. I was of course sent a quote by my current one for an automatic renewal., and as I usually do I went on line to do some comparison hoping to cut it down.
After a couple of hours here and there I sorted one out £30 cheaper and went ahead, by the time I’d filled in and corrected all the boxes then read the T&C’s I timed out, twice. I managed to get past that and spent a good part of this afternoon finalising it, I decided to phone and give card details rather than online, and was told it would be more expensive…….OK I went back to paid online. then printed off the Policy. I got an email, Thank you for your custom da,da,daa, BUT could you please forward by email attachment a current No claims discount from present insurer. also your current driving license back and front, Oh oh I mislaid my driving license way back sometime last year, and as it would cost £20 to have a re-issue I was advised by the DVLA to leave it till my birthday when it will be renewed automatically. The ins co, wouldn’t accept the paper copy. In the meantime I received an email from my current insurer asking why i didn’t want to renew, I said I’d got a cheaper quote….Let’s see what we can do for you, she said, of course she came back with a lower price after asking me what I’d been offered. I don’t have to supply my license or NCD as they have them. done. The irony is that it is the same firm that I’d got the other quote from but it was through a broker.
The afternoon is all but done and I’ve done nothing worthwhile, I don’t feel like going out again with Ruby as it’s -2 deg and still got a covering of snow with flurries, I’ve cancelled my dancing, WHERE IS SUMMER??
More books etc.
Time to catch up,
The weather has been playing tricks with us lately, after the cold and windy period we had two days of rain, now the sun is shining out of a clear blue sky as I speak and it’s quite mild, BUT ‘they’ have forecast a return to very cold weather next week.
Last night we had a family meal fourteen of us, to celebrate Sarah my grand-daughter’s 20th birthday which was on Wednesday, a jolly good evening it was.
Tonight it’s the monthly games evening at the church hall , and to-morrow being Mothering Sunday, we are gathering at Karen’s for lunch. I think it will be bread and water for the next week or so.
A short while ago I posted about books and how much I love them.
To-day I went to the local library to return last sessions. among them was an autobiography by Frank Sinatra’s last wife Barbara.
He was a wonderful singer, but by all accounts a very difficult man to work and live with. I didn’t know he spent so much money for charity, though it’s no big deal when you’re worth millions, [maybe I'm being uncharitable here]. Her life seemed to consist of spending money buying trinkets and very expensive presents having an attending lush parties and jetting around, altogether it came across as a bit of a shallow existence
To-day I chose an Autobiography by Sarah Ferguson Duchess of York, Prince Andrew’s ex wife,
’That Woman’ a biography by Anne Seba of Wallis Simpson .who married Edward V111 forcing him to abdicate the throne. A autobiography by Andy Williams called Moon River & Me, he was a wonderful crooner.
and what looks like a good little read called A Time Remembered, by Richard Walker, the authors tale of four magical years during the war [1937-44] in Dyfed Wales. I have a couple of chapters to read of a book from the last library journey, again about the war, and the LVD’s but a story fiction based on fact. It’s been a good read. Well that’s about it folks. I’m off online [?] to sort out my car insurance.
Oh and just to mention a good and dear friend of mine Madge, has won Crufts Obedience with her bitch Trendy. I am so pleased for her, it’s about time as she’s come second on a couple of occasions.
More than enough.
I’ve had enough of … Wellies ,gloves, scarves, waterproofs, fleeces ,thermals, woolly tights, oversocks, muddy boots ,umbrellas, anoraks, woolly jumpers, ear muffs, and all the paraphernalia that we have to wear to keep warm in the winter.
It has gone on too long and well out-stayed it’s welcome, not that I particularly welcome winter anyway.
I’m longing to be able to be able to bend down when I drop something, tie up my laces without having to fumble with cold fingers, to go out for a walk without looking like Nanook of the North. Be able to walk up the steps without getting out of breath because I have got fifteen pounds of clothes on.
I want to pop on a T shirt or blouse, a pair of cotton trousers, flip flops, essential undies and go walk free and easy. PLEASE summer hurry up, we need you.
A new experience to-day
A couple of weeks ago I went into one of our Charity shops and I was pleasantly surprised to see that one f the ladies who run the Mah Jong group was helping. We got chatting about volunteering and she asked would I have a couple of hours to spare. I used to help in a super little Charity shop up a couple of years ago I loved it and was quite sad when it when it closed down. So i decided I would go along and offer my services.
They took me up on it and soon put me to work after showing me how they conduct their business, as it was a much bigger concern than the one I had done before.
Wow, it was really more like a business with all sorts of lists and tick boxes, whether they were ‘gift aiding’ or not which had to be noted and their number put on each item, The number of bags to be listed, sorted into sacks, large bags, small bags e.g. carriers, or single items. The when you fill a bag with rubbish it too has to be ticked off before being put into a specific cupboard. The quality of clothing was a bit better than I had been used to, with anything that didn’t come up to par discarded, not just any discard, but total rubbish, soft rubbish and hard rubbish. Anything to be sold sorted into , men/women/children/ summer /winter/designer/ jacket/trouser/top/undies/sleep/ you get the picture, but what struck me more than anything was the amount of stuff that gets discarded, and from there put into rubbish, the stuff is perfectly good but just not good enough, Much of it goes to be sorted in the large clearing warehouses and sent to third world countries, which is good, but I can’t help but think that in this day and age, we don’t really know what poverty is in this country, we are very much a ’throw away to-day and get another next pay-day’ nation. Not just clothes, household goods, furniture and bric a brac. To-day a table came in Ercol brand, priced new over £300 , it was put out for £185 nothing wrong with it. A printer, shiny and up to date, he didn’t know what was wrong with it, so bought a new one, and could we use this. !!
I grew up in Glasgow during the war and can recall seeing children coming to school with no shoes, and the backsides hanging out of their trousers, and shoes or boots a couple of. sizes too big or small. Going to houses with no carpet on the floor , newspaper in place of a tablecloth and coats on the bed. I thank God that I was born into and brought up in a reasonably comfortably warm home and never knew what going without meant. Go work in a charity shop and then see if you believe when people say th ey are in poverty , recession or not. RUBBISH.
Maybe I’m wrong……….but
I don’t want a Kindle, I love books, I’ve loved books since I was old enough to hold one and turn the pages, I love the feel, the smell and the sheer look of a book. I can’t settle down to sleep till I’ve read at least a couple of pages of my current one.
Obviously at first they had to have pictures till I could read, I was a forward child and always wanted to know , who, what, why and where. When I was about four I was evacuated when the war started with my brother, he was twelve, though I was so young I was sent to school, now school in those days was nothing like what it is now, you went there to learn, We sat in rows with our hands on the desk in front of you, as I was the youngest [and the smallest] I was at the front of the class, very handy for the teacher to rap my knuckles with a ruler for not paying attention. It made me pay attention all right,, I didn’t find learning a chore but to be honest paying attention was.
I look back on that early experience of school and am grateful to these dedicated teachers, most children in my generation learned to read, write and add up and the majority passed the exams necessary to go on to higher education.
Getting back to reading,
I read everything I could get my hands on, always having a book to hand, Christmas and birthdays was presents of books.
I still like books with pictures, and will look at the pictures first then go on to the word.
I go to the library regularly and love nothing better than coming home with an armful of books. I’d go through phases of maybe Historical novels, Social history, nature , right now I’ve been devouring my way through Autobiographies, and Biographies, As they’ve usually got pictures it satisfies both aspects of my pleasure. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not solely a frivolous reader, I do like to read books that further knowledge.
\Now the library is free at the point of use, and I can get up to ten books at a time, out of that six – eight or so, I may only find two that I read cover to cover, now if I had to buy these books to view on a kindle it would be a bit of an expense., as far as I’m aware books can be anything from £1.99 upwards, but it is wasted money of you don’t like it, also, once I’ve read a book, I seldom read it again unless it’s exceptional, and that would be at least five years later. Well as I said, Maybe I’m wrong…. but I think people will always like books.
Sorry to be a bore
Well this won’t be the most scintillating of posts as the title suggests it was a boring day but I am trying to keep up with this blog now that I’ve got going. The weather is still very cold though to-day was very grey and looked as though it was going to rain any time. I washed the dog’s blankets and took the chance to put them on the line to dry, they didn’t., there wasn’t any wind and no sun, so I took them back indoors.
After lunch I felt at a a loose end and just couldn’t settle, I’m itching to get out in the garden., but that’s a no, no right now. I couldn’t be bothered painting nor going on the computer, so I thought I’d do something I don’t do often – settle down and read a book. I woke up an hour later ! Had a cup of tea and by then it was 4 o’clock, did a bit of this and a bit of that, then opened the computer till quarter past five and took Ruby out, Boy was it cold, but the walk did me good and cleared my head.
Yesterday morning I went to open the boot of my car to discover that some scumbag had run into the back and cracked the bumper. was I annoyed. not a thing I can do about it. #&*$!£+}
TV is as usual not too interesting on a Tuesday evening, so i fiddled with my blog and did some surfing. , visiting a few old bloggers.
It’s almost bedtime, so I shall have a cup of milk and a biscuit when my leccie blanket has warmed the bed, and say good night.
This is not about the weather
Because we’re all sick of it.
Yesterday was Sunday, I know that cos to-day is Monday,
I was going to blog about to-day but nothing much has happened, but as things did happen yesterday I’ll tell you about that instead.
For some months I’ve not been able to lock my back door in cold weather, so last winter I bought a couple of door chains and used them instead. Gradually the front door lock also started to seize up and I had to stop using it. It could get a bit embarrassing having to ask visitors to use the back door, like they were hawkers or something, it leads into my back porch, where I keep all the dog stuff , plus shoes and coats, you know the kind of place. I’d tried graphite, WD40 candle wax and oil, but the locks just completely jammed.
Eventually I asked Ross, my grand-daughter Sarah’s boy friend if he would come and fit new locks as he’s good at that sort of thing being a builder. I also asked Martin my son on law if he would also come and help out fitting some new fence panels,as they were getting a bit rickety, and my neighbour had backed into two of them [denied]. He not only did that but pruned a lot of rather overgrown holly and Jasmine. It was a freezing cold day so some warm food with hot soup helped keep them from freezing. that home baking comes in handy.
Not the most interesting of logs I agree, but it kept one old lady happy knowing that the doors were secure at night and I had a bit of pleasure going back and forth trying out the different ways I could go in and out, also in case I shut the front door while it’s still on the latch and lock myself out. but I’ll sort it.
Ruby’s asleep right now but I’m going to have to wake her up to go for her walk, It’s my dancing night tonight, and we’ll have to kick our heels high to help keep warm,.
Cake update
Just to add, that I decided to decorate the cake then have a taste, not too bad if I say so. 
